Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Patience. If only there was a place where patience can be bought, I would've bought wholesale and maybe ten years supply of it just to be safe. Being a mom has its perks and like other things, also has its downs. Patience is something that I haven't really had since I can remember. I'm not the softspoken type of person. In fact, I am the opposite. When I was younger, well until now,I don't really have a liking for pets or other cute little things (or people).

Going back to 'Patience,' being a mom has really tested my patience and everyday I'm striving to be a patient mom. Being patient is easier said than done and that would be an understatement. I have read a lot of stuff, books and articles on the net on how to be a more patient person. I'm sure at one point or another we have all come across the technique of counting up to ten until calmness fills your being once more. I think it should be counting to fifty or a time out for me. It's really hard to contain myself when I run out of patience and anger is the next thing to follow.

I am no expert but based on my experience, I have come up with some pointers that has helped me to be more patient and at the same time prevent me from being angry at my kids on a daily basis.

Set your expectations with your kids. Kids are kids. Do not expect them to do things perfectly or to do thing as an adult does it. When you ask them to do something, be sure you have their full attention so you can give them clear instructions. Always remember how old they are. Do not use big words. Ask them if they understood what you're talking about, it may be a chore or an activity, but always ask then so you will know what to expect. This will leave the two of you with a common expectation.

Nobody is perfect. We all know that at some point we are trying to be a perfect mom or be
the best mom. Well this may be the only situation to stop striving for
perfection. Let's face it, no body is perfect, no parent is perfect and
no child is perfect. Let yourself be. We are, as they say, perfectly
imperfect.

Breathe. Eventhough counting doesn't help me too much, breathing does. I have tried yoga and it did help me become calmer and more peaceful and not shout too much. Yoga gave me a feeling of calmness. I used to do yoga in the morning and it gives me a full tank of calmness I can use throughout the day.

Be selfish. Don't get me wrong with this one. What I mean is, do not forget to spend some sanity time or 'me' time. Being in a house with kids the whole day is heaven and can also be hell during off days. Do something you like to keep your sanity. Find time for yourself to go for a walk, go for a run, write on your blog (ahem), watch a grown up movie. I know, I l know, you're now thinking, 'How the h#@!l am I going to do that when I don't even have enough time to dry my hair?' The answer is in the next bullet.

Use technology. Let us not forget the gadgets that we have. My kids spend only two hours playing video games or watching a movie. I take advantage of this time to spend my sanity time. The rest of the day I let them help me with errands and chores. We also
do some crafts. Use google to research on fun stuff to do with the
kids. If they have limited time for the usage of gadgets they would really be into it when they have the chance and will not bother you for an hour or so. This is guaranteed. Oh think of all the things you can do.

So far, these are the solutions that I have come up with to survive my everyday life as a stay at home mom. I hope these would also help you.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Yesterday, my hubby and I already made a list of our lunch menu for the rest of the week. So for today, we were supposed to have steamed meatballs. However, after breakfast, I was playing with other possiblities of what I can do with the ground pork. I ended up with the idea of what my son had in Jollibee last week, The Ultimate burger Steak Meal. This is a 'fully carbohydrated' meal, if there is such an adjective. It contains a thick burger patty resting on top of a bed of french fries with mushroom gravy on top and beside it is a cup of rice with a sunny side up egg on top. Here's a photo of their new offering...

With that said, this is my copycat version. I made smaller patties since we have little ones and we, the adults, don't want to eat more than we should (if this is not eating too much already). If I had a can of mushrooms I would've added it to this recipe but I didn't and was too lazy to buy because of the heat! If you have a can of button mushrooms lying around in your pantry, feel free to add it in the gravy at the end.

I would have to say that this meal is quite a production number. It has four parts, the rice, the egg, the fries, and the pork steak, oh and the gravy so that would be five parts.

We will be focusing on the pork burger steak part.

Before cooking the pork burger steak, I did some internet research and based some of what I did in this recipe from here and here.

2 Tbsps pork drippings
4 Tbsps butter
4 Tbsps flour
1 pork bouillon cube ( I didn't have beef so I used pork but beef bouillon or beef broth would've been better)
2 cups of water
a dash or two or three of Worcestershire sauce ( it really depends on your preference)

What to do:

1. For the pork steak: Mix all the ingredients well. Form the mixture into balls using a Tablespoon.

Flatten them to about half an inch just before putting it in a non stick pan. I did not use any oil since the pork will shed lots of it. You can cook about four patties at a time.

I cooked them 4 to 5 minutes on each side. You can do it for 3-4 minutes if you don't like the patty to be well done on the outside. This gave me 20 patties. The patties are small and please remember: Do not press on the patties while cooking to keep the juices in.

2. For the gravy: Crush the buillon cube, mix it wih the water and set aside. After frying all the patties, there will be a lot of oil from the pork. Transfer the excess oil in another container. Leave about 2 Tablespoons of drippings in the same pan because we will use the same pan we used for frying.

Put the butter in.

When all of the butter has almost melted, put the flour in.

Mix it until the butter and flour has incorporated.

Add the buillon cube bits that are in the water and mix it in the pan. Add the water little by little because you need to mix the water with the butter-flour mixture to keep lumps from forming.

When you've mixed it all together and got the right consistency you want, add some Worcestershire sauce. You can even add some more salt and pepper of you like. I did not add anything else in since I do not like our food to be too salty.

Gravy with the right consistency. Don't you just want to run your finger throught that for a quick taste?

That's it! That's it? Let me add how I did the others:

3. For the fries: I just used frozen ready to cook fries we bought from the grocery.

4. For the sunny side up egg: My hubby volunteered to fry the eggs. This gave me time to plate the meal and get the table ready ;)

5. For the steamed rice: I just used a rice cooker.

Here is my finished product!!!!

Pork Burger Steak (close up)

Verdict: Let's just say there was peace in the house when were having our lunch. ;D Everybody was satisfied and happy. :)

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

My hubby wanted to have something sweet for lunch last Saturday and he told me he liked Pork Hamonado. I tried searching for recipes online and came up with our own recipe. It was delicious!

What is pork hamonado? It's basically pork belly, it can be a solid block or it can be sliced, whichever you prefer. I am not a strict cook myself so I use whatever part of meat we have and boil it until tender. In this case we used pork belly and if it's 'hamonado' this means it's sweetened like the sweet ham we have during Christmas.

1. Boil 1.5 lb r 750g pork for an
hour and take out the scum as soon as it rises to the top.
2. Add 1/2cup soy sauce,1.5 cups pineapple juice & peppercorns.
3. Simmer on low fire with lid closed until the pork
is super duper tender. (This took me an additional hour so it would be better to use a pressure cooker if you have one.)
4. Add quarterd potatoes, sliced carrots and
pineapple chunks.
5. Simmer until veggies are done.

If you want a runny sauce proceed to step 7.

If you want the liquid
to be saucy not runny, please keep reading...

6. Mix 3 tsps cornstarch in 3 Tbsps cold water and
add that in the pot. Simmer for a bit until you achieve the sauciness you like.

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add some more sugar if you want it to be sweeter then wait for 5 min before tasting it so the sugar's sweetness is incorporated well in the sauce.